Satna (Madhya Pradesh): The Raigaon reserved constituency is set to see a triangular contest between the Congress’s Kalpana Verma, BJP’s Pratima Bagri and the BSP’s Devraj Ahirwar. Verma won the seat in a bye-election by defeating Bagri in 2021 when the seat fell vacant after the death of BJP candidate and five-time winner from this constituency, Jugul Kishore. The Congress workers, however, demanded the top leadership to change the candidate, but their demand was not accepted.
History of Raigaon constituency
Raigaon constituency was formed in 1977, and Janata Party’s Vishweshwar Prasad was the first legislator from this seat; however, the Congress won it for the first time in 2021. There are seven seats in Satna, but the BJP is facing a massive internal squabbling in this seat, the only reserved constituency in the district.
The son of former minister the late Jugul Kishore Bagri, Pushpraj Bagri, was aspiring for a ticket, but the party fielded another candidate from this constituency, which intensified internal fighting in the party. Angry with the party’s decision to give a ticket to Pratima Bagri, a former member of the district Panchayat Rani Bagri left the party and joined the BSP.
On the other hand, a former legislator from the BSP Usha Choudhary is with the BJP. She also wanted a ticket from the party. The internal fight in the BJP has reached its peak, and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had to intervene during his visit to Raigaon on November 2.
According to sources in the BJP, the party’s top leadership tried to pacify Pushpraj by giving him a position in the state working committee. Rani Bagri may also damage the party’s prospects in the constituency.
Jugul Kishore created history
Jugul Kishore, who passed away in 2021, won five times from this constituency on the BJP ticket. He won the election from Raigaon in 1993 and continued to maintain his winning spree till 2008. In 2013, his elder son was not given a ticket, and the BJP lost the election.
Former deputy chairman of Panchayat, Pushpraj Bagri, was given a ticket, and BSP candidate Usha Choudhary won. It was BSP’s first victory from this seat. In 2018, Jugul Kishore was again fielded from this constituency and he defeated Kalpana Verma.
In 2021 when the seat fell vacant after the death of Jugul Kishore, Kalpana won the seat in the bye-election by a margin of 12,000 votes. The BSP candidate was not there in the contest.
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